Cliff 
Ingredients: 1 school plagued with curses; 1 young witch who can’t do magic; 1 talking cat sleuth on holiday. Method: Place the ingredients in a big cauldron and stir well over a low fire at midnight. Dancing and chanting optional. Raven Charming has always known magic is real – she comes from a family of witches. And although she doesn’t seem to have any magical ability of her own yet, she knows how important it is to keep magic … Read more
Lying on the ground at the edge of a ripe wheat field, John Lewis-Stempel describes in loving detail all the life he observes: flowers, insects, birds, a field mouse even a toad waddles past; he is mesmerised and stays there for hours. For 30 years from 1930, Lewis-Stempel’s grandparents ran Woodston farm. It was primarily a hop farm but mixed with sheep, milking cows, wheat and other crops for animal feed. ‘Poppop’ was hired because he was a good … Read more
Moving up to secondary school can come with a whole raft of conflicting emotions. Fortunately, there are some great books to help primary school leavers explore this time of change. So whether they can’t wait to get stuck in, want to reinvent themselves, or just want a straightforward guide to life in secondary school, this collection is a great place to start. And if your school days are long behind you? Reading these books will no doubt spark a … Read more
The Wide, Wide Sea, written by Anna Wilson and illustrated by Jenny Løvlie, is published by Nosy Crow in collaboration with the National Trust and will make a valuable addition to any bookshelf, school library or topic box. This lyrical text explores two days in the life of a little girl enjoying the excitement of sharing the delights of an unspoilt beach with her grandmother. Whilst gazing out at the horizon she spots a seal which tempts her in … Read more
Nick Hayes’ The Book Of Trespass shocks, challenges and informs our understanding and acceptance of land ownership and the law in England. William the Conqueror began the process of exclusion, defining the royal forests as spaces from which commoners were barred then parcelling up huge areas to gift to his barons who assumed ownership and exclusive power over use of the land. The following centuries saw almost all the remaining common land claimed piecemeal by acts of enclosure as powerful landowners … Read more
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best sci-fi novel published during the previous year. Since celebrated author Arthur C. Clarke gave a grant to establish the award in 1987, notable past winners have included Margaret Atwood, China Miéville, Colson Whitehead and Emily St. John Mandel. Always interesting and diverse, the shortlist serves as an excellent primer for the latest, most exciting titles in the genre. The winner will be revealed in September. The Infinite … Read more
Rob Biddulph is an award-winning author and illustrator of picture books, but this is his first published novel and we can easily see it garnering more awards for him! Peanut Jones is miserable because her beloved artist father has gone missing but whilst looking through the collection of illustrated post-its he drew for her, she discovers a secret compartment in the box with a worn down pencil. Peanut can’t believe her eyes when she draws a quick sketch only … Read more
As a social enterprise, The Bookery actively seeks to help people within our community. Many of our projects focus on health and wellbeing including reading to residents in care homes and dementia cafes, promoting national campaigns about books on health, community engagement activities and supporting individuals through employment and volunteering activities. Loneliness is seen by many as one of the largest health concerns we face and evidence suggests loneliness is one of the feelings millions have experienced during the coronavirus … Read more
With the country once more in the grips of football fever thanks to the Euros, now is the perfect time to seek out some of the more interesting and possible overlooked books which show the economic, social and psychological angles of our most beloved national sport. Africa United: How Football Explains Africa by Steve Bloomfield Travelling to twelve countries across the vast continent, Steve Bloomfield tells the story of modern day Africa through the lens of it’s obsession with … Read more
A thrillingly ambitious novel that spotlights the cruelties and injustices of child migration from Central America to the USA. Telling the stories of one family’s road trip to the deserts of Arizona to find the homeland and memorials of the last free Apaches and the desperate train journey taken by some ‘illegal’ child migrants, Luiselli creates compelling drama and confronts the shocking hypocrisies of America. The narrator and her husband met and married during a long sound archiving project. … Read more
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